McCleary in good company
She is a champion for social justice and a community activist. And as a young wife and mother, she juggles a number of part-time jobs to help support her family.
Sara McCleary is also in good company as she carries the New Democratic Party banner for Sault Ste. Marie ahead of the October 21 federal election.
Though the NDP has a history of trailing the Liberals and Conservatives both federally and provincially, it has amply represented the Sault in both the House of Commons and Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Dr. Karl Morin-Strom of the NDP was elected as the Sault’s member of provincial parliament in 1985 and served until 1990, when he opted to not seek re-election.
Tony Martin then succeeded Morin-Strom as the NDP member for the Sault in the Ontario legislature and held a seat from 1990 until 2003.
Martin then went the federal route and was elected as the Sault’s member of parliament, retaining a seat in the House of Commons from 2004 until 2011, capping an immense 20-year career as an NDP representative.
And in between, Steve Butland of the NDP was the Sault’s federal member of parliament from 1988 to 1993. Butland later became mayor of the Sault.
Now, McCleary will try to gain NDP representation for the Sault in the House of Commons when the 43rd Canadian general election is held next month.
She will be up against four other candidates.
McCleary, Geordon (Geo) Mclean of the Green Party, Conservative Party candidate Sonny Spina and Amy Zuccato of the People’s Party of Canada will all try to unseat current Sault MP Terry Sheehan of the governing Liberal Party.
The Liberals currently hold a majority government with 177 seats. The Conservatives have 95 seats, the NDP has 40 and the Green Party has two.
This will mark the first election for the aforementioned People’s Party of Canada, which was formed less than a year ago, in September of 2018.
